The latest US military deployment to Iraq comes on the heels of another order by Obama for hundreds of US combat troops to be sent to Iraq on a “security mission.” The missions of protecting American officials in Iraq and training the Iraqi central government to maintain dominance are getting conflated as US troops slowly and in small doses, drip back into Iraq.

President Obama told Congress on Monday that he is deploying about 200 more troops to Iraq to bolster security at the U.S. Embassy and airport in Baghdad…

Earlier this month, Obama announced the deployment of 275 troops to protect the embassy. In addition to security, these troops will provide “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support,” Obama said.

The president is also in the process of sending up to 300 military advisers to assist Iraq as it battles an invading army of jihadists that has taken over major cities and threatens the capital in Baghdad.

A few hundred here, a few hundred there, soon you are talking about real ground troops. It appears that instead of a surge the US will trickle its army back into Iraq.

These numbers, of course, exclude forces already on the ground in the truly massive US embassy in Baghdad as well as those who are politely referred to as “contractors” who are working as soldiers of fortune in Iraq courtesy of the US taxpayer. No rank, no insignia, just pointing and shooting on orders from Washington.